Accused Strip shooter caught with phone in prison cell
Facing trial in a Strip shooting that left three people dead and already serving prison time in a separate sexual assault case, Ammar Harris was recently moved to the state’s highest security penitentiary, prosecutors said Monday.
Correctional officers reportedly found a cell phone in Harris’s cell at High Desert State Prison, about 30 minutes northwest of Las Vegas, last month. He was subsequently sent to Ely State Prison, Nevada’s maximum security prison, nearly four hours northeast of Las Vegas.
His defense attorney, Robert Langford, wants Harris held at the Clark County Detention Center while he awaits trial for the Strip slayings.
Prosecutors are expected to seek the death penalty.
Harris was not transported to court Monday, though he is expected to be present at a hearing next week.
It’s unclear how Harris obtained the phone or whether Harris could face further charges for the phone in his prison cell.
The Nevada Attorney General’s Office, which would handle prosecution on a prisoner cell phone violation, declined to comment on the allegation.
This was not the first time Harris encountered more trouble with authorities after his arrest in the Strip shooting. Harris was arrested in Los Angeles, fighting extradition to Las Vegas for almost six weeks. While being returned to Las Vegas, he unsuccessfully tried to escape custody, prosecutors said.
Earlier this year, the self-proclaimed pimp was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison on three counts of sexual assault and one count of robbery.
Harris now faces a September trial on three counts of murder for a February 2013 shooting and ensuing car crash on the Strip that left three people dead.
Harris was accused of shooting another reputed pimp, Kenneth “Kenny Clutch” Cherry Jr., as both drove separate vehicles on the Strip after a nightclub confrontation.
Cherry crashed his car into a taxi, which exploded on impact and killed driver Michael Boldon and his passenger, Sandra Sutton-Wasmund of Maple Valley, Wash.
Contact reporter David Ferrara at 702-380-1039 or dferrara@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker.
